Mar. 20, 2014
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by Ray Locker, USA TODAY

by Ray Locker, USA TODAY

The Obama administration proposed a 28% spending cut for a Pentagon program that supports modernizing the military of Ukraine and other former Soviet Union republics, Pentagon budget records show. The move could endanger efforts to boost Ukraine's armed forces as they face threats from Russia.

The proposed cuts, contained in a detailed budget plan posted online this week, come over the objections of officials with the U.S. European Command, who argue they will hurt U.S. attempts to build armed forces in nations formerly beholden to Russia.

Spending on the Warsaw Initiative Fund is set to drop from $34 million in the current fiscal year to $24.4 million in the 2015 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

The Pentagon values the program, said Navy Cdr. Amy Derrick-Frost, a Pentagon spokeswoman, but "we're responding to a very challenging fiscal environment, which will become all the more challenging if sequestration remains the law of the land. Weeks ago, the Department began a thorough review of all Warsaw Initiative Fund programs and funding to ensure we addressed our top priorities. We had to make tough choices, but if Warsaw Initiative funding for activities with Ukraine has in recent years surpassed any other recipient nation."

The proposed spending cut comes as "the demand for funding to meet important U.S./NATO objectives continues to grow," said the budget plan from the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees the Warsaw Initiative.

"The implications of this are not good," said Stephen Blank, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. "The only thing that the world respects is action, not talk, so if you are not going to fund these projects then no one will take you seriously."

European Command officials, the budget document shows, said money from the initiative pays for half of their military-to-military work in the Balkans, South Caucasus and Eurasia, which includes Ukraine, and failing to maintain spending levels "will weaken their ability to complete their country cooperation plans' goals and objectives, and will also reduce their overall engagement with the countries" involved in the Partnership for Peace.

The Partnership for Peace is a NATO program aimed at building the armed forces of potential NATO members and is supported by the Warsaw Initiative spending. Ukraine is not a NATO member, and its prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said this week that it would not seek to join.

There is a chance the money could be restored by the administration or Congress as the need for more exercises in Ukraine continues, said Heather Conley, director and senior fellow of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

European Command, Derrick-Frost said, "will continue to resource priority engagement activities within the program or supplement with other complementing funding sources."

A 2009 study by RAND for the Pentagon said the top three roles for the initiative were creating a nation's defense policy and management, human resources and the democratic control of a nation's armed forces. Ukraine's participation in the program has created strong relationships with the U.S. military, which were influential in keeping the Ukrainian army from getting involved in last month's protests against the country's president, Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia.

Some exercises with Ukraine may have to be canceled because of the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, which have led to Russia seizing control of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, the document shows.

"Due to the dire security situation in country, prospects of continuing to execute (2014) events in Ukraine remain unknown at the time this document was prepared," the budget proposal says. "Furthermore, a re-evaluation of all security cooperation activities with Ukraine may need to occur in light of domestic political events."

Two military exercises scheduled for the summer in and around Ukraine, Rapid Trident and Sea Breeze, are still set to occur, Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said. She would not speculate on what would happen with exercises beyond this summer.

Saber Guardian, a NATO exercise, is set to start Friday and will include a Ukrainian contingent among the 700 troops from 12 countries. The exercise, which will take place in eastern Bulgaria, will last until April 4.